Volunteer Group Raising Money to Build First Central Park Statue Honoring a Woman

CENTRAL PARK, NY — One group of volunteers is fighting to break the "bronze ceiling."

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund has noticed a problem with Central Park. Of the 29 sculptures in the park, none honor a historic woman. Sure, there's statues of Alice, Juliet and Mother Goose, but those are fictional characters. And Cleopatra's needle doesn't count, it's just a slab of stone.

The volunteer, non-profit organization hopes to change that by constructing a statue of suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony at the West 77th Street entrance of the park.

“Countless women deserve to be honored by statues and monuments all over this city and this nation,” said Statue Fund President Pam Elam in a press release. “This single statue represents the beginning of a movement to properly honor the contributions of women—both historical and modern.

The group received "conceptual approval" from the parks department for the statue in 2015, and is raising money to make the concept a reality. In honor of the upcoming Women's Equality Day on August 26, the group is seeking contributions to raise the estimated $1.5 million needed to design, build and maintain the statue.

"This effort isn’t just about one statue—it’s about a movement. And the timing is right. So let’s get ready to celebrate the New York State Woman Suffrage Centennial in 2017; the National Woman Sufferance Centennial in 2020; and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony in 2020," Elam said in the press release.

Photo: Flickr user Shinya Suzuki via Creative Commons